50 items found
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Princely Piety, or the worshippers at Wanstead,
£595Princely Piety, or the worshippers at Wanstead,
A hand-coloured etching by the caricaturist George Cruikshank depicting the wooing of a wealthy young heiress by a cast of reprobate suitors. Upon the death of her only brother James at the age of 11 in 1805 Catherine Tylney-Long became the richest commoner in England in her own right. At the tender of of 16 the 'Wiltshire Heiress' had come into a fortune of nearly £30,000,000 in today's money. This made the poor girl a prime target for every fortune hunter and indebted rake in England who wished to clear his creditors. The law as it stood in the early 19th Century had degenerated to such a degree that, under the principle of coverture, it denied a married woman any property at all in her own right while her legal existence as a feme covert was entirely subsumed in that of her husband. This left the wealthy orphan daughter of Sir James Tylney long, 7th Baronet in a difficult and precarious position, caught between the social stigma attached to unmarried womanhood and the appeals of a host of insinuating cads seeking her hand in marriage. Here Cruikshank depicts the many and assorted indigent suitors for the hand of the wealthy heiress. To the left of the dais are shown Lord Kilworth and William Wesley-Pole, later 4th Earl of Mornington a dissipated Anglo-Irish nobleman, who dueled over the courtship of Catherine. Kneeling at the foot of the steps we may also see the figure of Romeo Coates, unintentionally comic actor and 'improver' of Shakespeare included apparently 'not because of his pretensions, but his boasts and wishes'. Above him we see the fop and jobbing playwright, Sir Lumley Skeffington laying his poetic efforts at the feet of the heiress. On the right hand we see The Duke of Clarence, later William IV who by this point had debts of many hundreds of thousands of pounds holding back Baron-de-Geramb, a Spanish military adventurer and suspected Napoleonic spy who later became a Trappist monk where he used his position as procurator-general of that ancient order to defray his personal expenses. Above the Duke we see reproving the figure of Mrs Jordan, his 'common-law' wife with whom he had fathered many children at his retreat of Bushey Park. The farcical presentation of the situation belies it's tragic outcome. Perhaps cajoled by just such unkind insinuations as are repeated in this caricature Catherine would choose the worst-of-the-bunch, William Wesley-Pole, as her preferred suitor. William Wesley-Pole-Tylney-Long, as he became by Royal Licence in 1812, was an unredeemed rake and not only abused and impoverished his saintly young wife but also passed her a debilitating infection and caused her family seat at Wanstead House to be demolished and sold for salvage. After a short and unhappy marriage Catherine died at the age of only 35 after receiving a final brutal letter from her estranged husband, the contents of which apparently caused her to have some form of seizure. Frustrated in his efforts to gain custody of their son William, on whom the family fortune had devolved, William Pole Tylney-Long-Wellesley, 4th Earl of Mornington (the final name by which he was known) died in 1857 unwept, unhonoured and unsung if also unrepentant. His obituary in the Morning Star described him as "A spendthrift, a profligate, and a gambler in his youth, he became debauched in his manhood... redeemed by no single virtue, adorned by no single grace, his life gone out even without a flicker of repentance".£595 -
‘A Young Poodle, but not one of the Sagacious Breed’
£520‘A Young Poodle, but not one of the Sagacious Breed’
Caricaturist, presumably of Irish background, but undocumented. Responsible for a small number of plates in a distinctive hand. Unclear whether he etched them all or only designed them. Never a publisher. Worked for P.Roberts and J.Aitken. Many unsigned prints by both men may well be by him.£520 -
A Bundle of Straw, My Spouse is Remarkable Tasty in his Dress & he likes to see me so.
£520A Bundle of Straw, My Spouse is Remarkable Tasty in his Dress & he likes to see me so.
Caricaturist, presumably of Irish background, but undocumented. Responsible for a small number of plates in a distinctive hand. Unclear whether he etched them all or only designed them. Never a publisher. Worked for P.Roberts and J.Aitken. Many unsigned prints by both men may well be by him.£520 -
Old Maid on a Journey,
£450Old Maid on a Journey,
An original framed hand-coloured etching and engraving by caricaturist James Gillray. The corpulent figure of the independent polymath, antiquarian and collector Miss Sarah Sophia Banks is depicted being shown into the best bedroom of an Inn followed by a grotesque retinue of gurning servants carrying her assorted baggage. Miss Banks was a prolific collector of printed emphemera including broadsheets, newspaper clippings, visiting cards, caricatures, advertisements and playbills as well as being a leading numismatist of her day. Her great library of volumes on ancient coins as well as her capacious collection of the coins themselves was gifted to the nation upon her death and are now spread over the Royal Mint, The British Library and British Museum. One of the 18th Century's brilliant but unacknowledged women, Sarah Banks was the sister of the famous botanist Joseph Banks who sailed with Captain Cook to New South Wales. According to recent scholarship as well as editing her brother's manuscripts she often conversed with him on their subjects and many of her ideas were incorporated into his writings. Perhaps puzzlingly, given the warm and close friendship which was said to exist between Gillray and his wealthy female patron, Miss Banks is depicted as a obscenely fat and ugly. One can only speculate on the nature of the comedy and manners of the time (not to mention the sense of humour of the subject) when interpreting the comic effect of this print.£450 -
The Cobbler’s Cure for a Scolding Wife
£395The Cobbler’s Cure for a Scolding Wife
A framed, hand-colored etching by Thomas Rowlandson, published by Thomas Tegg. A study in human savagery. A cobbler stands over his wife, a grimacing virago who is tied to a chair with her wrists bound. With his awl between his teeth he pulls at the thread with which he is stitching up her mouth. A buxom young woman leans delightedly over the pair, lighting the work with a small candle. Rowlandson was a chronicler of London life both low and high. Less inclined to political comment than his contemporaries Gilray and Cruikshank he chose instead to focus of the foibles, fancies and failings of common society. His drawings were always harsh and frequently grotesque, even repulsive. The figures in his work are rarely, if ever, held up for our admiration but rather in accordance with his maxim of 1802 that "Man is the only creature endowed with the power of laughter, is he not also the only one that deserves to be laughed at?" Rowlandson's designs were usually executed in outline with the reed-pen, and delicately washed with colour. They were then etched by the artist on the copper, and afterwards aqua-tinted usually by a professional engraver, the impressions being finally coloured by hand.£395 -
Awkward Squads Studying the Graces
£395Awkward Squads Studying the Graces
A framed, hand-colored etching by Thomas Rowlandson after G. M. Woodward, published by Thomas Tegg. Six comic, caricatured society types are cajoled and corrected by French dancing masters into performing the steps of a fashionable new dance. By the late 18th Century the term 'awkward squad' had passed from military cant into common usage as a description of a group of raw recruits incapable of understanding discipline or not yet sufficiently trained or disciplined to properly carry out their duties. Here Rowlandson, in one of his favourite recurring themes, lampoons the modish aspirations of the would-be fashionable set as they are 'drilled' by their hired dancing masters.£395 -
A total Eclipse, or The Moon passing the Sun’s disc
£380A total Eclipse, or The Moon passing the Sun’s disc
Hand coloured line engraving by John Fairburn. King George IV's star is eclipsed by the crecent moon of Catherine of Brunswick while suspended in the sky over the Brighton Pavillion. In his right hand he holds a sack full of slanders. A commentary on the acrimonious public divorce of the King and the Queen Consort in the 1820s;£380 -
A View from the Old South Sea House
£370A View from the Old South Sea House
A hand-coloured etching by the Regency satirist Richard Dighton showing the brewer James Curtis. Richard Dighton was the son and apprentice of another noted caricaturist Robert Dighton and brother of the battle-scene painter Denis Dighton. The works of Robert and Richard Dighton are regarded as predecessors of the Vanity Fair style of the late nineteenth century. The series of portraits of City and West End characters to which this etching belongs was started in 1817 and Dighton would go on to publish a number of etchings during the next decade before retiring early to Cheltenham. This edition, of 1824, was printed by Thomas McLean Printseller & Publisher at 26 Haymarket, on the eastern side just north of Panton Street. The subject of the print, James Curtis, was a prominent and prosperous London brewer of the early 19th Century and his portrait, painted by Thomas Lawrence, now hangs in the Manchester Art Gallery. The Old South Sea House mentioned was located on the Threadneedle Street corner of Bishopsgate. The back of it apparently burned down in 1826 and was subsequently rebuilt. The building was the headquarters of the South Sea Company. Incorporated in 1711, the company was assigned a monopoly on British trade with Spanish America but, when that failed, it embarked upon a speculative scheme that ended in the economic collapse known as the ‘South Sea Bubble’ which saw many investors ruined. The building was partly remodeled in the 1850s and was eventually demolished at the end of the 19th century£370 -
Company shocked at a lady getting up to ring the bell,
£360Company shocked at a lady getting up to ring the bell,
A hand-coloured satirical etching by James Gillray, Published by Hannah Humphrey. Five men are depicted courting a wealthy widow in her luxuriously furnished breakfast parlour over boiled eggs bread and muffins. The widow has risen from her chair to pull a bell-pull while frantic efforts of the suitors to stop her have produced a sequence of disasters. Published by Gillray's long-time and eventual exclusive publisher, Hannah Humphrey. Mrs Humphrey was the sister of engraver William Humphrey and became not only an independent businesswoman in Georgian London but London's leading seller of caricature prints. She began publishing prints in the 1770s at a premises on St Martin’s Lane before moving, first to Old Bond Street, then New Bond Street before finally settling at 27 St James’s Street. James Gillray lodged with Mrs Humphrey for twenty tears from 1791 and although some suspected an illicit relationship it was in all probability a commercial and platonic friendship. Mrs Humphrey cared for Gillray as his sight failed him and later tended to him during the alcohol induced madness of his last five years of life.£360 -
A Successful First Speech,
£270A Successful First Speech,
Framed chromolithograph by SPY (Sir Leslie Ward) picturing Mr Fredrick Edwin Smith, later 1st Earl of Birkenhead, MP for Liverpool Walton and boon companion of Sir Winston Churchill until his early death. The subtitle, 'Moab is my Washpot', is from psalm 108 and is a proverbial declaration of total triumph over vanquished foes. F.E Smith is famed in Parliamentary history for his maiden speech in the House, known as 'I Warn The Government', described by the late Paul Johnson as "without question the most famous maiden speech in history, quite unprecedented, and never equalled since." In it he accused the Liberal government of arrogance, dishonesty and heavy handedness after their landslide victory at the election of 1906. He managed to catch David Lloyd George in a clear untruth and won the begrudging admiration of all sides of the house. He declared, in response to a suggestion by Lloyd George to the churches of Wales that the Tories wanted to 'introduce slavery to the hills of Wales' that: "I have no means of judging how heaven will deal with persons who think it decent to make such suggestions. The distinction drawn by the Right Hon. Gentleman is more worthy of the county court than of the Treasury Bench." He then went on famously to declare: "I venture to warn the government that the people of this country will neither forget nor forgive a party which, in the heyday of its triumph, denies to the infant Parliament of the Empire one jot or tittle of that ancient liberty of speech which our predecessors in this House vindicated for themselves at the point of the sword." He was a, according to the ONDB a 'champion of hard-drinking patriotic men' in the face of the temperance movement before his early death of cirrhosis of the liver.£270 -
Tess,
£250Tess,
Framed Chromolithograph by Spy (Leslie Ward) depicting Thomas Hardy, novelist author, poet and architect. Writer of controversial and socially engaged novels such as Tess if the D'urbervilles, Jude the Obscure and popular classics such as Far from the Madding Crowd and The Mayor of Casterbridge. He lived to be appointed to the Order of Merit and his ashes are interred in Poets Corner, Westminster Abbey.£250 -
Cricket, Railways, and Agriculture,
£250Cricket, Railways, and Agriculture,
A framed chromolithograph by Spy (Sir Leslie Ward) picturing Charles George Lyttleton, 8th Viscount Cobham, Liberal MP for East Worcestershire. A first class cricketer who played 35 first class matches in his life, he was elected President of the Marylebone Cricket Club in 1888. Cobham was also a member of the Tennis Committee of the MCC and was responsible for framing standardised rules for the new sport of lawn tennis. These unified Laws of Lawn Tennis were published on 29 May 1875.£250 -
The Bells,
£220The Bells,
Framed Chromolithograph by APE (Carlo Pellegrini) picturing the stage actor and impresario Henry Irving. Born into humble circumstances in the West Country, Irving went on to establish himself as a giant of the West End. During his long residence at the Lyceum, beginning with his production of The Bells in 1871, he cemented his own and his theatre company's position as the keeper and type of the English classical theatrical tradition. Irving would later became the model for Bram Stoker's Dracula and was the first actor to be conferred the honour of Knighthood. Irving died on stage in 1905 after giving the final lines of Beckett by Alfred Lord Tennyson ''Into thy hands, O Lord, into thy hands". His ashes are interred in Westminster Abbey, the first cremation prior to internment permitted at the Abbey.£220 -
The Intermezzo,
£220The Intermezzo,
Framed Chromolithograph by WH (Wallace Hester) picturing the Italian composer Pietro Mascagni. In 1890 Mascagni delighted the Italian nation with his exquisite opera 'Cavalleria Rusticana'. Written in response to a competition for young composers in 1888, Mascagni had not actually intended to finally submit his work as he doubted it's quality. The composer's wife found the draft hidden in a draw and, seeing it's worth, illicitly submitted it on his behalf on the final day of the competition. The opera was an instant and unqualified success, earning Mascagni 40 curtain calls on the first night as well as first prize in the contest and receiving a standing ovation such as the Teatro Constanzo in Rome had not seen 'in many years'. The 'intermezzo' from Cavaleria Rusticana was particularly noted for its beauty and charm and has become famous in it's own right, appearing in the soundtrack of the Martin Scorsese film 'Raging Bull'.£220 -
War And Peace,
£220War And Peace,
Framed Chromolithograph by SNAPP picturing Leo Tolstoy, Russian moralist, novelist and social theorist, author of War and Peace and Anna Karenina. Tolstoy visited England only once in his life. For sixteen days from the 2nd May 1861 he lodged with the philosopher Alexander Herzen and took in the sights of London as well as attending a reading by Charles Dickens of A Christmas Carol at St James' Hall on Piccadilly. He returned to Russia on the 17th, immediately upon learning of the emancipation of the Russian serfs by the Emperor Alexander II.£220 -
Shamrock,
£220Shamrock,
Framed chromolithograph picturing Sir Thomas Lipton, self made man, tea-merchant and founder of Lipton Tea, philanthropist and yachtsman. Sir Thomas became admired as 'the best of all losers' for his gracious and gentlemanly manner of defeat as he contested and lost 5 straight Americas cups in his yacht 'Shamrock', a standing record for failure in that contest. Inducted into the America's Cup Hall of Fame in 1993 he also inaugurated the Sir Thomas Lipton trophy, a forerunner of the football World Cup. He was admitted to the Royal Yacht Squadron shortly before his death, a great achievement for the son of an itinerant labourer born in a Gorbals tenement.£220 -
The Queen’s Lord Steward,
£200The Queen’s Lord Steward,
Framed Chromolithograph by Spy (Leslie Ward) depicting Gavin Campbell 1st Marquess of Breadalbane KG PC JP DL. Scotch Nobleman and Liberal politician. Lord Steward to the Royal Household of Queen Victoria.£200 -
Ficelle Dramatique,
£200Ficelle Dramatique,
Framed Chromolithograph by T (Theobald Chartran) picturing Victorien Sardou, French dramatist, playwright of the original 'Tosca' and developer, along with Eugene Scribe, of the 'Well Made Play'. Much maligned by 'socially radical' playwrights, his method of composition which focused on concise plotting, compelling narrative and a solid structure shorn of intellectual or philosophical pretensions was nonetheless adapted for use by figures such as George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde and J.B. Priestly. Shaw in particular affected to scorn Sardou's creations as 'Sardoodles' but still condescended to employ a Sardou structure on his breakout success, 'Man and Superman' in 1902.£200 -
He insists that his pen is mightier than his sword,
£200He insists that his pen is mightier than his sword,
Framed chromolithograph by Spy (Sir Leslie Ward) picturing Mr Egerton Castle MA FRSA, author, antiquarian and swordsman. He was an early practitioner of reconstrucred historical fencing he went on to be apponted British fencing and sabre captain in two Olympic Games. A keen collector of bookplates, he also published several novels, often in partnership with his wife Agnes Sweetman Castle, a number of which were turned into early motion pictures.£200 -
Seven Shilling Pieces
£200Seven Shilling Pieces
A hand coloured Georgian satire on the cost of female companionship at the Covent Garden Opera. Two courtesans fashionably dressed in the style of the period are shown arm-in-arm, walking along a pavement. One (right) holds up an open sunshade and a card inscribed 'Miss Oldprice Covent Garden'.£200 -
Lord Justice Barry,
£195Lord Justice Barry,
Framed Chromolithograph by LIB (Liberio Prospero), depicting Charles Robert Barry QC PC, Lord Justice of Appeal for Ireland. As Solicitor General he had been responsible for the prosecution of the men captured during and after the failed Fenian rising of 1867.£195 -
Mr. Frank Crisp,
£195Mr. Frank Crisp,
Framed Chromolithograph by Spy (Leslie Ward) depicting Sir Frank Crisp, 1st Baronet. Lawyer, forensic scientist, microscopist and horticulturalist. The owner of Friar Park, Henley-on-Thames, lately the residence of the Beatle George Harrison, he also drew up the contract for the cutting of the Cullinan Diamond in Amsterdam by Jospeh Asscher in 1893.£195 -
East Birmingham,
£195East Birmingham,
Framed Chromolithograph by Spy (Leslie Ward) depicting Sir John Benjamin Stone, Conservative politician, pioneer of photography, MP for Birmingham East and first Mayor of Sutton Coldfield. He was a prolific early documentary photographer and undertook photographic expeditions to Spain, Norway, Japan and Brazil where he captured the 1893 total solar eclipse. The National Portrait Gallery holds 62 of his photographic portraits and he was appointed the official photographer of the coronation of George V in 1911.£195 -
The Master Builder,
£195The Master Builder,
Framed chromolithograph by SNAPP picturing the Norwegian playwright and theatre director Henrik Ibsen, 'the father of realism' in the dramatic arts, writer of 'A Dolls House', 'Peer Gynt' and 'The Master Builder', three time Nobel Prize nominee.£195 -
The Working Man Member,
£190The Working Man Member,
Framed chromolithograph picturing Mr Henry Broadhurst MP. A leading early British trade-unionist, Mr Broadhurst worked his way up from a stonemason's apprentice to become leader of the Labour Representation League, a forerunner of the Labour Party. From working as a mason on the clock tower of the rebuilt Palace of Westminster he eventually secured a seat in the House of Commons as MP, firstly for Stoke-on-Trent, as well as chairmanship of the forerunner of the TUC. Appointed Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department in the Liberal government he became the first person from a working-class or labour movement background to hold a ministerial post.£190 -
A hard rider,
£190A hard rider,
Framed Chromolithograph by SPY (Sir Leslie Ward) picturing 'Captain' David Longfield Beatty, infamous soldier and amateur sportsman of the late Victorian period. An Anglo-Irish horse dealer and trainer from County Wexford, Captain Beatty was considered a violent and unpleasant bully. After cuckolding a brother Officer in the 4th Hussars he was dismissed from his regiment although he continued to be referred to as 'Captain' - a rank he had never achieved and held only in an honorary capacity. His natural son, David Richard Beatty went on to become Admiral of the Fleet and the 1st Earl Beatty, Viscount Borodale and Baron Beatty of the North Sea and Brooksby sometimes described as 'Britain's last naval hero'.£190 -
The Record Revolver Shot,
£190The Record Revolver Shot,
A framed chromolithograph by SPY (Sir Leslie Ward) picturing Mr Walter Winans, American marksman, hunter, horsebreeder, sculptor and painter. A twice Olympic shooting gold medalist, he also won the gold medal for sculpture at the Stockholm Arts Competition in 1912 for his equestrian bronze 'An American Trotter'.£190 -
Stay, Please,
£190Stay, Please,
A framed chromolithograph picturing Mr Justice William Ventris Field, Baron Field of Wakenham. Queen's Council, later Queen's Bench, he oversaw the reorganisation of the court system following the Judicature Act of 1881 which established Judges Chambers in England and served (especially in the court of Chancery) to make trial without a jury the normal mode of trial, except in certain instances. In 1890, he retired from the bench and was raised to the peerage as Baron Field, of Wakenham in the County of Surrey, on 10 April 1890. He had been sworn of the Privy Council earlier the same year.£190 -
Bill,
£180Bill,
A framed chromolithograph by ELF picturing Robert Henry Foster, lawyer, author, poet, oarsmen and pioneering Romano-British archaeologist. His excavations at Roman Corbridge on Hadrian's Wall were seminal in the fledgling field of British archaeology. He wrote widely about Hadrian's Wall and the Roman presence in his native Northumberland. A keen oarsman, he rowed in the first boat of his college's Lady Margaret Boat Club and in the crew sent to Henley in 1888, winning both the Thames cup and Ladies plate. He later became joint secretary of the Thames Rowing Club in 1892. Starting out with a legal career in mind, he was called to the Bar in 1892, having been McMahon Law Student the year before. However, his writing soon took precedence, to be joined by his archaeological interests.£180 -
The Ball,
£180 -
A Match for the King’s Plate,
£180A Match for the King’s Plate,
A hand coloured etching by George Cruikshank commenting on the contest for seat of Westminster. George Lamb and John Cam Hobhouse, 1st Baron Broughton are shown astride a lamb, Sir Francis Burdett, 5th Baronet, on a fine but injured charger and Henry 'Orator' Hunt straggles behind on an old carthorse representing the 'Father of Reform' Major John Cartwright. All five figures are shown racing for the winning post at the gate of His Majesty's Treasury with an implication that the contest is for one for both power and political patronage while the twin devils or radical reform and universal suffrage inadvertently 'steal a ride' on the Baronet's charger. The election of 1818 was the first to be staged after the end of the Napoleonic wars and was to become both a distillation of the latent class-conflicts bubbling over in the United Kingdom, and a fore-warning of the growth of militant radicalism that was to envenom and fracture British politics in the early parts of the 19th Century. Sir Francis Burdett was the Radical incumbent in Westminster and yet was firmly set against the new Radicalism which was beginning to colour the politics of the manufacturing districts of the North. This extreme and confident movement for universal manhood suffrage and political reform was by now associated with Henry Hunt, Major Cartwright and the writer and journalist William Cobbett. Caught in a cleft stick by his need both to mollify the prosperous and respectable Westminster electorate and yet maintain his own character as a tribune of the plebeians and Radical leader, Burdett was in a classic political double-bind. To the eye of the exiled Cobbett the Baronet was a placeman and an establishment 'traitor' but to his Tory opponents and the wavering freeholders and burgesses of Westminster he was beginning to appear a dangerous extremist. The suicide of Sir Samuel Romilly, the second member for Westminster, in November 1818 threw the situation wide open and the resulting by-election became something of a national sensation.£180 -
Chess,
£175Chess,
Framed chromolithograph by APE (Carlo Pellegrini) picturing Joseph Henry Blackburne, British chess master nicknamed 'The Black Death'. Despite only taking up the game at the age of 17 Blackburn became a world champion many times over and an icon of 'Romantic Chess'.£175 -
Steam
£175Steam
A framed chromolithograph by SPY (Leslie Ward) depicting Frederic Abernethy Coleman, writer, journalist, military historian & motoring pioneer. He popularised the White Steam Car in England and was a fierce opponent of the 'petrol car brigade' preferring and championing steam powered motorcars. Steam powered cars had the ascendancy in early British motoring, particularly in hill-climbs until they were banned from competition by advocates of the petrol engine,£175 -
Her Majesty the Queen Empress,
£170 -
In His Military Capacity,
£170In His Military Capacity,
Framed Chromolithograph by SPY (Leslie Ward) depicting Mr Montagu Williams QC, teacher, British Army officer, actor, playwright, barrister and magistrate. His succesful defence of Mr John Young in his manslaughter trial, after the death of an opponent in the boxing ring, established a legal precedent around the sport.£170 -
Balliol,
£170Balliol,
Framed Chromolithograph by Spy (Leslie Ward) depicting Edward Caird FRSA FBA. Scottish philosopher on the latter part of the 19th century, Caird is considered one of the fathers of the British Idealist school, a philosophical movement that was influential in Britain from the mid-nineteenth century until its overthrow by the Analytic Philosophy associated with Bertrand Russell. He served as Master of Balliol college until 1907.£170 -
First Violin,
£170First Violin,
Framed Chromolithograph by Spy (Leslie Ward) picturing HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, Alfred Ernest Albert, later Duke of Saxe Coburg and Gotha. The second son of Victoria and Albert he joined the Royal Navy at 14, he rose through the ranks to attain the position of Admiral of the Fleet by 1893 having served as Cadet, Lieutenant and Captain of HMS Galatea which he commanded in the Pacific Ocean. He commanded both the Channel fleet and, later, the Mediterranean Fleet from his flagship HMS Alexandra. The Duke survived an assassination attempt while visiting Sydney Australia and went on to marry a Grand Duchess of Russia. Alfred was a musical enthusiast and took a leading role in the establishment of the the Royal College of Music in 1882. He was a particularly keen violinist although his playing was not of the first quality. After a dinner party given by one of his brothers where he was persuaded to play Sir Henry Ponsonby would write: 'Fiddle out of tune and noise abominable'£170 -
Eduard Strauss,
£170Eduard Strauss,
Framed Chromolithograph signed EBN depicting the Austrian composer and conductor Eduard Strauss, brother of Johann II and Josef Strauss.£170 -
Crystal Palace,
£170Crystal Palace,
Framed Chromolithograph by Spy (Leslie Ward) picturing Sir August Friedrich Manns, German born British Composer and a key figure in the musical life of the Crystal Palace where he conducted a 90 piece orchestra.£170 -
Jimmy,
£170Jimmy,
Framed chromolithograph picturing the Revd. James Leigh Jones, English clergyman and schoolmaster at Eton College. Teacher of Swinburne and the Duke of Argyll. Famed for his application of the birching rod and his regular flogging of his pupils.£170 -
Four in hand,
£170Four in hand,
A framed chromolithograph by SPY (Sir Leslie Ward) picturing Adolph Wilhelm Reichmann, Baron of Prussia, Knight of the Iron Cross, German businessman and naturalised British subject he oversaw the banking house of Horstmann and Company. A keen carriage driver he was a member of many driving clubs including the Four In Hand and Carriage Clubs. His posterity became a subject of Parliamentary controversy as his sons left England to fight for the Kaiser in 1914 while his widow, the Baroness von Deichman, remained to steward his company which managed loans for prominent members of the German military and aristocracy.£170 -
William Frederick, 2nd Duke of Gloucester (‘A slice of Glo’ster cheese’) by James Gillray
£160William Frederick, 2nd Duke of Gloucester (‘A slice of Glo’ster cheese’) by James Gillray
A whole length hand-coloured Georgian caricature-portrait of Prince William Frederick of Gloucester. Designed in an oval setting, the Prince is shown in profile, facing rightwards, and bearing a strong and suggestive resemblance to his uncle King George III. He is shown wearing military uniform, having served in Flanders in 1794 during the Revolutionary Wars. The Prince, later the Duke, of Gloucester had become popularly and affectionately known as 'Slice of Gloster' or simply 'Slice' by the early 1700s.£160 -
Tracks and Triggers,
£150Tracks and Triggers,
A Framed chromolithograph by WHO picturing Mr Walter Winans, American marksman, hunter and artist. Author The Art of Revolver Shooting, Winans owned hunting and shooting rights to 250,000 acres in the Scottish Highlands across Glen Strathfarrar, Glen Cannich and Glen Affric. In 1884 he attempted to prosecute a Scotsman, Muirdoch Macrae, for grazing a lamb on the ancestral lands of Clan McCrae but owned in law by Winans. The failure of Winans' prosecution established the right to roam which was a key element in opening British parklands to the public.£150 -
Force No Remedy
£150Force No Remedy
A framed chromolithograph by Harry Furniss picturing a prison warder, Charles Stewart Parnell and John Dillon pictured on remand in Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin. Parnell and Dillon were united in opposition to the Irish Land Act of 1881 which aimed to resolve landlord tenant relations in late 19th Century Ireland and neutralise the militancy of the Irish Land League. Accused of "sabotaging the Land Act", the pair were arrested on the 12th of October 1881 for their role in the declaration and propagation of the No Rent Manifesto, a radical proposal by the Land League calling for a campaign of passive resistance by the small tenant farmers of Ireland and the withholding of rent to landlords.£150 -
The New Judge
£150The New Judge
A framed chromolithograph by SPY (Sir Leslie Ward) picturing the Hon. Sir Arthur Charles who presided over the first trial of Oscar Wilde for sodomy and gross indecency in which the Jury failed to agree a verdict.£150 -
Birth, Behaviour and Business,
£145Birth, Behaviour and Business,
Framed Chromolithograph by T (Theobald Chartran) showing Her Majesty's loyal opposition. The front back consists of three survivors of Lord Salisbury's collapsed administration. Lord John Manners, once Postmaster General and later 7th Duke of Rutland, Sir Stafford Northcote, former Chancellor of the Exchequer and Richard Assheton Cross, former Home Secretary. All three were seen as emblematic of the lethargy and inertia of the Conservative party of the period.£145 -
The Cabinet Council, 1883,
£145The Cabinet Council, 1883,
Framed Chromolithograph showing Gladstone's 1883 Liberal Cabinet. The second Gladstone administration was responsible for, among other things, the introduction of compulsory elementary education up to the age of 14 and the Married Woman's Property Act which returned to women the legal ability to own property in their own right. Depicted alongside the Prime Minister are his 13 cabinet colleagues including the MP for Birmingham Joseph Chamberlain, The 8th Duke of Devonshire, the 15th Earl of Derby and Sir William Vernon Harcourt.£145 -
2nd Commissioner
£1452nd Commissioner
A framed chromolithograph by SPY (Sir Leslie Ward) picturing The Hon. Sir John Charles Frederick Sigismund Day a High Court Judge and art collector. One of the first Roman Catholic judges to be appointed to the English bench since the Reformation, he was called to the bench in 1882. Well known for sentencing criminals to lashes, in his latter years, he would sometimes listen intently to cases with his eyes closed, opening an eye suddenly if something significant were said, a mannerism which was jokingly referred to as "the peep of Day". He sat on the Parnell Commission, a judicial inquiry into allegations of crimes by Irish parliamentarian Charles Stewart Parnell which resulted in his acquittal and vindication. At the time it was said that it was on his insistence that Richard Pigott was put into the witness box and his forged letters, implicating Parnell in the Pheonix Park murders of 1882 exposed as fraudulent. He retired from the High Court of Justice in 1901, when he was granted an annuity of £3,500. In March the following year he was appointed to the Privy council. His portrait hangs in the Royal Courts of Justice.£145 -
Pridham
£125Pridham
A framed chromolithograph by ELF showing Henry Pridham Wippell, a prominent Edwardian barrister.£125 -
Collapse of the Conference,
£120
Featured Items
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Figure by Georges Braque, Verve Vol 2 / No. 5-6.
£800Figure by Georges Braque, Verve Vol 2 / No. 5-6.
The Verve Review was a purposefully luxurious. It ran from 1937 to 1960, but with only 38 editions available, due to the high degree of design and editorial work dedicated to each issue. Each edition contained unique lithographic prints, commissioned by the editor, and each cover a double-page lithograph elaborated by one of the artists contained within. It was the brainchild of its editor Stratis Eleftheriades, a Greek National who moved to Paris in the early thirties to take part in the growing Modernist movement, writing under the name of Teriade.£800 -
Autumn by Abraham Rattner, Verve Vol. 1 / No. 3.
£600Autumn by Abraham Rattner, Verve Vol. 1 / No. 3.
The Verve Review was a purposefully luxurious. It ran from 1937 to 1960, but with only 38 editions available, due to the high degree of design and editorial work dedicated to each issue. Each edition contained unique lithographic prints, commissioned by the editor, and each cover a double-page lithograph elaborated by one of the artists contained within. It was the brainchild of its editor Stratis Eleftheriades, a Greek National who moved to Paris in the early thirties to take part in the growing Modernist movement, writing under the name of Teriade.£600 -
The Four Elements, Water by Fernand Leger, Verve Vol. 1 / No. 1.
£600The Four Elements, Water by Fernand Leger, Verve Vol. 1 / No. 1.
The Verve Review was a purposefully luxurious. It ran from 1937 to 1960, but with only 38 editions available, due to the high degree of design and editorial work dedicated to each issue. Each edition contained unique lithographic prints, commissioned by the editor, and each cover a double-page lithograph elaborated by one of the artists contained within. It was the brainchild of its editor Stratis Eleftheriades, a Greek National who moved to Paris in the early thirties to take part in the growing Modernist movement, writing under the name of Teriade.£600 -
Portrait Fragment by Pierre Bonnard, Verve Vol 2 / No. 5-6.
£600Portrait Fragment by Pierre Bonnard, Verve Vol 2 / No. 5-6.
The Verve Review was a purposefully luxurious. It ran from 1937 to 1960, but with only 38 editions available, due to the high degree of design and editorial work dedicated to each issue. Each edition contained unique lithographic prints, commissioned by the editor, and each cover a double-page lithograph elaborated by one of the artists contained within. It was the brainchild of its editor Stratis Eleftheriades, a Greek National who moved to Paris in the early thirties to take part in the growing Modernist movement, writing under the name of Teriade.£600